Miljan Miljanić, Yugoslavia football coach: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Miljan Miljanić was a Yugoslav and Serbian football administrator, coach and player who played as a defender. He was the all-powerful President of the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ) from 1981 to 2001.

Born in Bitola, Vardar Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, to a family originating from the Banjani clan in the Nikšić municipality in Montenegro, Miljanić spent the first years of his life in what would later become SR Macedonia within SFR Yugoslavia and eventually present day North Macedonia.

During his colourful career, Miljanić coached Red Star Belgrade (won 10 trophies), Real Madrid (won back-to-back La Liga titles, including a League/Cup double in the 1974–75 season), Valencia CF (disappointing stint that lasted three quarters of the 1982–83 season when he got sacked with the team in 17th place in the league), and the Yugoslavia national team, of which he was a head coach in the 1974 and 1982 World Cups.

He also served as president of the Football Association of FR Yugoslavia (FSJ) from 1981 to 2001. After leaving the position in 2001, he was elected honorary president of the association.

His influence on the game of football in Yugoslavia is huge as an entire generation of coaches including Ćiro Blažević, Ivica Osim, Toza Veselinović, etc. came up under his tutelage. In addition to admirers, Miljanić has his share of detractors who feel his trademark cautious and defensive tactics, as well as reliance on older players, contributed to the Yugoslavia national team's poor results and unattractive play throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2002, for his contributions to association football, Miljanić became the recipient of the FIFA Order of Merit — the highest honour awarded by FIFA.